I had the worst bout of insomnia last night that I have had in years. I got up twice after not being able to sleep; finally at 4 a.m. I broke down and took a sleeping pill, something I hate doing, but the situation demanded it. I probably fell asleep just as 5 a.m. was rolling in.
With that introduction, I think you will forgive me if I resort to cutting and pasting for this morning's fire update. I took the following text from the SD County Emergency website:
10-24-07 9:30 a.m. Fires update from CAL FIRE: The Harris Fire is now 73,000 acres, suppression costs are at $2.5 million. There have been 7 injuries. 759 Firefighters assigned. The fire was held at the edge of Chula Vista and Spring Valley. The returning onshore flow has moved the fire to the northeast threatening structures along Highway 94 from Jamul to the east and Jamacha to the west. Lyons Peak was burned and the fire jumped perimeter control lines in the area.
The Witch Fire is still 196,420 acres, but now 10% contained, suppression costs are at $2.3 million. There have been 12 injuries to firefighters. There are 1,841 firefighters assigned to this fire. The fire will continue to move east threatening the communities of Julian and Pine Hills. Fire has potential to move north and join with the Poomacha Fire. Fire spread to west and southwest is still a potential. There have been 645 structures destroyed – 250 damaged. 100 commercial properties destroyed – 75 destroyed. 50 outbuildings destroyed – 50 damaged.
The Rice Fire is 7,500 acres and 15% contained. 1 firefighter has been injured. Cost to date to fight the fire is $585,000. Red Flag conditions during daylight hours. De Luz and Fallbrook are evacuated. Over 400 structures in De Luz and Northern Fallbrook area threatened.
The Poomacha Fire 25,000 and 0% contained. 659 firefighters assigned to this fire. Cost to fight this fire is $350,000. Fire increased in size due to extreme fire behavior, lack of resources and high winds. Some resources are beginning to arrive, but no significant perimeter control has been initiated due to structure protection priorities.
I have also found out that seven deaths are now associated with the fires, one of which is directly attributed to the Harris Fire. The others apparently occurred during or as a result of the evacuation process. Another significant note is that the Witch Fire is not burning on its western perimeter at all anymore; the winds have shifted and it is mostly burning to the northeast. The same goes for the Harris Fire. I am hoping that this will make them easier to contain since it signals that the Santa Ana winds have died down; the cooler, moister, and much slower ocean winds have much less potential for whipping the flames. It also means that the fires are no longer threatening the most densely populated areas.
The map below shows the total perimeters of the fires in SD County. The orange is the total area that has burned while the red spots are where the fires were still active as of 8 a.m. this morning. You can download your own zoomable pdf version of this map from the SD County Emergency website--it's in the list on the right side of the page.
5:48 p.m.
Things haven't changed too much since this morning. The winds are still blowing in from the oceans, which is bad on the one hand since they are pushing the fires back in a different direction, but good on the other hand since they are much less fierce and much less dry. This http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifmeans they can't add as much fuel to the fire as the Santa Anas did the past three days. People are being evacuated along the 94 freeway now, and some people who were evacuated earlier and then allowed home are finding they have to leave again due to the wind changes. The Witch Creek Fire and the Pumacho Fire have joined up in the northern part of the county, near Palomar Mtn.
Even without any fires due east of me, and even with the wind change, the air pollution remains at "unhealthy" levels according to the local air quality website. My lungs are definitely suffering. I noticed earlier that my front door has a full one-inch gap at the bottom--no weatherstripping whatsoever. I stuffed my bathmat into the space. No wonder I could still smell smoke occasionally, even with my filters on. This is an old house, full of cracks and spaces and crooked window frames. There is also a vent built into the ceiling of my kitchen that is really just a big beveled hole in the roof. How can I block that? At any rate, I still feel extremely lucky that boredom and some hopefully temporary lung troubles are the worst I'm suffering from all this. So many people are dealing with much much worse.
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